Tommy Sheppard

IFAW Campaign to Stop the Ivory Trade

I was delighted to attend the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Westminster launch of a new report on the illegal ivory trade across Europe, (Ivory seizures in Europe, 2006-2015), which found that the European Union is still a destination for illegal ivory, a major transit route between countries and a key exporter of antique ivory to South East Asian markets.

I fully support the campaign for greater protection for elephants which are being decimated for the ivory trade. Populations are at an all-time low with the species facing extinction due to the ivory poaching crisis which is killing at least 20,000 elephants each year.

IFAW is calling for a UK ban on the ivory trade as well as a European-wide ban. It is also running an ivory surrender, with members of the public being invited to surrender their own ivory which will be destroyed as part of a campaign to close the UK’s ivory market and save the iconic elephant from the threat of extinction.

Philip Mansbridge, UK Director of IFAW hit the nail on the head when he said “That every piece of ivory represents a dead elephant..”

Defra is expected to announce a consultation on a UK ivory ban in the very near future. This is long overdue.

Anyone wishing to donate ivory items to IFAW’s ivory surrender is asked to post them to: Campaigns Department, International Fund for Animal Welfare, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7UD. For queries or large items, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 020 7587 6700.

About the author

Born in Coleraine, Northern Ireland in 1959, Tommy was educated at a local grammar school and, equipped with the requisite A levels, moved to Scotland to study medicine at Aberdeen University. He graduated with a degree in politics and sociology – the start of a lifelong interest in politics.

He returned to Scotland in 1993 and established the Stand Comedy Club in 1995, which he started as a hobby and built into a successful business. Tommy lives in Minto Street with his partner Kate and cocker spaniel Henry.

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